Stratford STEM Magnet High School recognizes support of Nashville District

Michael Steele, executive principal at Stratford STEM Magnet High School, presents a community service award May 5, 2014, to Stephanie Coleman, an Equal Employment Opportunity specialist, who accepted on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

Michael Steele, executive principal at Stratford STEM Magnet High School, presents a community service award May 5, 2014, to Stephanie Coleman, an Equal Employment Opportunity specialist, who accepted on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Officials at Stratford STEM Magnet High School recognized the support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District during its "Student, Parent and Partner Success Celebration" held today at the school.

The informal event highlighted the contributions of business partners like the Nashville District to the rapidly growing success of the school and its focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Jennifer Berry, academy coach at Stratford, said the Nashville District has been instrumental in supporting student achievement as indicated by increasing ACT scores and unique student applications to college and universities.

"The Nashville District has supported student events such as Science and Engineering Day, student expos, and field trips, and have supported teachers through water quality curriculum development in which students explored the health of their local watershed," Berry said.

Stephanie Coleman, Nashville District Equal Employment Opportunity Office, represented the district at the event and accepted a community service award and a certificate recognizing the district as the school's 2014 nominee to the Academy of Science and Engineering in its "externship" category.

In 2013 the Nashville District sponsored four Stratford teachers in an externship that provided them hands-on experience and helped to develop project-based curriculum and facilitate applied learning. They interacted with water managers and learned how the Corps provides collaborative water resource engineering solutions, public-infrastructure management, and environmental stewardship for the Cumberland-Tennessee River systems.

"It was an honor to represent the many men and women in the district who have supported the partnership with Stratford that richly benefited teachers and students," Coleman said.

The employees of the Nashville District invested more than 500 hours supporting the STEM program and were nominated by Stratford STEM Magnet High School for the Mayor's Partnership Award through the Pencil Foundation.

(The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district's website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.)